Price v. Annucci

Background

Trevor Price, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action without paying the filing fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization.

Court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization allows the facility to deduct those payments and requires certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the prior six months.

Within 30 days of the order, Price must either pay the $402 or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-6925 (LTS). The court directed that no summons be issued at that time. If Price complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal-related ruling

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

Additional caution

The order cautioned that a prisoner action dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim may count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). After three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in new federal civil actions unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.